The last time that John Darnielle was in NYC was with The Extra Lens during CMJ as part of a short tour with John Vanderslice who later wooed the crowd in the middle of the day and in the middle of the floor at Public Assembly as part of the BV day party. Now the singer/songwriter (JV) will make his first trip back to NYC since that outing, and with a new LP in tow; White Wilderness is out now via Dead Oceans. So far there are no additional East Coast dates to report, but John Vanderslice will take on Brooklyn's Rock Shop on May 13 with Damien Jurado! A Fine double bill. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (2/11).

And like JV, Damien Jurado, who is still supporting his latest Secretly Canadian releaseSaint Bartlett, is planning a trek to SXSW in March. Damien will be joined along the way, and for more dates afterwards, by Viva Voce. All dates and some videos below...

"As with their last album, The Life of the World To Come, the [Mountain Goats] treated the [All Eternals Deck] recording sessions as commando raids on several studios with a few different producers: four songs at North Carolina's Fidelitorium with John Congleton; one at Q Division in Boston with Brandon Eggleston; four at Brooklyn's Mission Sound with Scott Solter; and four at Mana Recording Studios in Florida, with former Morbid Angel guitarist and current Hate Eternal helmsman Erik Rutan.

Describing the album, Darnielle writes, "If you have ever watched say a 70s occult-scare movie where one of the scenes involves a few people visiting a storefront fortune teller, getting their cards read, and then trying to feel super-hopeful about their predicted outcome when what they're visibly actually feeling is dread, then you have a pretty decent idea of what the album is all about." He elaborates, "Other possible points of reference include 'Burnt Offerings,' 'Go Ask Alice,' and that one scene in The Warriors where they're on the train and the sun's coming up and they're safe but you know the scars are permanent now."" - Merge Records

The tour to support that album will happen in March and April and includes two shows at Bowery Ballroom with the amazing Megafaun (3/28 and 3/29). Tickets for both of those shows are on AmEx presale now, and go on general sale on Friday.

There are two MP3s above. "Tyler Lambert's Grave" is a new song John released for free on the Internet, but it's not on the new album. "Damn These Vampires" is though. The full tracklist, the new album's cover art, and all dates, below...

""This festival is super-cool," said Strokes singer Julian Casablancas from the stage at Austin City Limits on Friday night. "Lotta stuff." It's true: The festival, now in its ninth year, packs 130 bands onto eight outdoor stages arranged around the 350-acre Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup is a mix of huge rock acts (the Eagles headline Sunday) and big-name indie bands, plus DJs, country singers and the occasional rapper. With an expected attendance of around 70,000 a day, the festival similar in size, if not in spirit, to Lollapalooza. "Lollapalooza has that city energy. It's like the hot girl you want to take home," one organizer, Lisa Hickey, said. "ACL is more laid-back -- it's like your best friend." And unlike South By Southwest, the music and film showcase that takes over the Texas town every spring, ACL doesn't have much of a music-industry angle -- it's almost strictly for fans.

On Friday night, the packed lineup presented the crowd with a happy problem: Four big-name guitar bands -- Spoon, Sonic Youth, Vampire Weekend, and the Strokes -- all had sets starting within two hours of each other, and seeing each set in its entirety was impossible."
[Rolling Stone]

Of those big four, Tim managed to catch three, and a bit of Vampire Weekend's favorite band Phish from afar. Phish's set included a Velvet Underground and a Talking Heads cover. Full setlist at the end of this post.

Kings Go Forth pictures are HERE. The rest of the pictures from the first day of the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (where Ezra Koenig joined Miike Snow on stage), continue, with a bunch of setlists (including Spoon's which points out that Eleanor Friedberger played a Fiery Furnaces song with Spoon) (video proof too), below...

Comprised of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, the Human Hearts) and formed in the Inland Empire during the region's brief next-Seattle shortlist period, the project began as a potential home for any song John wrote that had a) more than three chords or b) a bridge. New songs for the group only happened when John figured he"d written something that Franklin might find clever or amusing. Reasoning that permanent-bridesmaid status means you never have to actually buy the dress, the duo have approached record-making at a pace that one would call "leisurely" if it wouldn"t make the leisure class look like busy bodies: one 7", several compilation appearances, one full-length at the dawn of the aughts, and now, arriving with Paul Masson-like deliberation, Undercard.

Recorded with Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, US Maple) at the Rubber Room in Carrboro, North Carolina, and with Mitch Rackin (Excepter, Heavy Hands) at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn, Undercard is the first Extra Lens record to arrive as a full collaboration between songwriters. The recording method, however, persists: John plays guitar, sings, and then gets the hell out of Dodge City, leaving Franklin to provide arrangements as the songs required: here sparing, here ornate; sometimes gentle, sometimes not; once with vibraslap, mostly without. [Merge Records]

In support of that release, the boys will hit the road with John Vanderslice for four select east coast dates including the intimate Mercury Lounge on October 21st. The NYC show is part of the CMJ Music Marathon, but advanced tickets also go on sale Friday at noon (weird for a CMJ show at Mercury Lounge). All dates below...

Yesterday was FYF Fest. We know all the problems... The lines... And are addressing them now. In no way are we sleeping on these problems. The bands were amazing and the turn out was unreal. I'm speechless. -Sean Carlson & FYF Fest

That's how the FYF Fest organizers started their post-fest email, which also outlined new, cheaper pricing to the three "fan fest" shows it hosted on Sunday in LA. For all the organizational problems on Saturday, FYF still managed to put on a highly enjoyable day of bands, around 37 total across three stages (plus a comedy tent), at LA State Historic Park.

The day's short sets kept you wanting more from nearly every act, many of whom played for a half hour or 35 minutes (which expanded in 5 minute increments up to an hour for the headliners). That made for tough decisions between overlapping sets. Ted Leo and band blew through their 45 minutes, and Titus Andronicus could've continued for another 35 at least with the momentum from their Monitor songs. Those two, along with Screaming Females, were part of what Ted Leo termed the "New Jersey Takeover" - three punk bands with Garden State roots who all played great sets at the fest.

Ariel Pink

Los Angeles represented with a number of notable hometown acts. Growlers, in grey facepaint, brought an earthy, ramshackle sound and lots of friends. Best Coast, Abe Vigoda, Local Natives and Ariel Pink also repped their hometown - the latter two with mezmerizing late afternoon sets.

Other acts brought some nice surprises. A chorus of kids, costumed as zombie versions of dead historical figures, backed Dead Man's Bones' Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. The Blow introduced some of her new songs written for an unnamed celebrity (and played recognizable earlier songs too, including one "written with Sting...when [she] was 7"). And Big Freedia, the fest's only act with any trace of hip-hop, shocked the crowd with a short pre-headerliner dose of "Azz Everywhere."

Big Freedia

There was plenty of garage rock (Thee Oh Sees brought the man responsible for their cover art, William Keihn, to play tambourine), punk and metal. A reunited Sleep, in New York this week, grinded away, as !!! had people shaking their ass on the sister stage. On the fest's third stage, hardcore band 7 Seconds reminisced about their first time in LA almost 30 years ago and lead a spirited circle pit. Add to those bands, breezy folk from AA Bondy, the jams of Warpaint and Delorean to name a few.

If FYF's organizers are a bit defensive above, it may be with good reason: the few critical organizational errors were fairly memorable. A long line at will call (an hour would be a short estimate) kept many waiting in the 90 degree sun while the first bands of the day (Magic Kids, Let's Wrestle and The Goat) could be heard starting in the distance. Water inside was also an issue, with limited access to free drinking water and bottled water at $4 (which, according to Noah Lennox, ran out).

By the end of the night, the two final acts - The Rapture and Panda Bear - set up on competing stages. Panda Bear aka Noah Lennox interspersed his dreamy lullabies with patches of noise and dissonance while videos and images that could be described only as "trippy" played behind him; I think your response to the set depended largely on your state of mind after the long day: exhausted or ready for a patience-testing string of songs and sounds. He and The Rapture provided, alternately, a place to dance or doze.

--

Unsane also played a rare runion set at the festival where Off! shared a bill with Lower Dens. School of Seven Bells, Davila 666, Cults and Ceremony were there too.

Read what Noah thought about his own set, HERE. More pictures from the entire day, below...

"The Austin City Limits Music Festival began as a modest, two-day event and now, as it enters it's 9th year, has become a perennial American music experience. Taking place at the heart of Austin, Texas in the legendary Zilker Park, ACL Festival has grown to 3 days, 8 stages and over 130 bands."

Tonight's "Cabinet of Wonders" at LPR features John Wesley Harding and his Band, The English UK along with Larry Murphy, Sondre Lerche, Ben Greenman, Rick Moody, Nicole Atkins, Daniel Felsenfeld and Leona Naess.

Matador announced that Fucked Up's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' charity single "should be available" from iTunes today (December 8th) (still waitingit is). As previously reported, the song is packed with guests, including Yo La Tengo, GZA, Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend), Bob Mould (Husker Du), Tegan & Sara, Andrew W.K., Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio), David Cross and Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene). In February, it'll be released as 7" single. The record is for charity, and you can read what Fucked Up singer Pink Eyes has to say about the causes, below. The band is also putting out a rarities compilation, Couple Tracks, in January and touring with Kurt Vile in Feb. (with 2 NYC area shows).

Another benefit record, Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, is out today on Merge (in digital form, CDs come February 23rd). The proceeds go to New Zealand musician Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs, Toy Love) who suffered a stroke last June. The two-disc collection is all covers of Knox's songs done by acts that include Yo La Tengo, Mountain Goats, Will Oldham, Stephin Merritt, Bill Callahan and...Jeff Mangum (doing "Sign The Dotted Line" by Tall Dwarfs). You can preview songs at Merge. The full track list below.

Don't forget, Bob Dylan's Christmas album is also for charity, benefiting Feeding America. His new video for "Little Drummer Boy" (animated and less jokey than "Must Be Santa") is below...

Owen Pallett aka Final Fantasy concludes his tour with The Mountain Goats at The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (12/2). Their second to last stop together was last night at Webster Hall (that's a picture from the show above). Final Fantasy also appeared on IFC's Dinner Was the Band last night. He performed "Keep the Dog Quiet" at both shows, but only talked about how he was vegan until he decided to eat lamb one day on the IFC one. Video from the TV show was previously posted HERE. A picture of the Webster Hall setlist is below.

In related news,

To celebrate the January 12th release of Heartland, Final Fantasy will be playing several shows, including dates in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. The third Final Fantasy full-length and the first for Domino Records, Heartland is the product of nine months of work in four countries. It is a fully orchestral record, designed to exist simultaneously as an album, a 45-minute piece of orchestral music and a set of songs for looped violin and voice. Owen Pallett explains Heartland:
"The songs themselves form a narrative concerning a farmer named Lewis and the fictional world of Spectrum. The songs are one-sided dialogues with Lewis, a young, ultra-violent farmer, speaking to his creator. The album was compositionally modeled upon the principles of electronic music. The principles of analog synthesis informing symphonic writing, like an inversion of a Tomita record. These songs, too, were designed to be as dense with polyphony as the Final Fantasy live shows can become. While writing it, I kept an image in my head of putting so many notes on the page that the paper turned black. This record encapsulates a whole year of work for me, and was difficult to see through, but I'm immensely proud of the results. I hope you enjoy it."

Those new dates include January 18th at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on sale Friday (12/4) at noon. All dates, the new album cover art and tracklist, and a video below...

The Mountain Goats are in town for two sold-out shows with Final Fantasy. Last night was at Webster Hall. Tonight they're at the Bell House. John Darnielle also showed up to play a few songs at UCB Monday night. A video of John covering The Hold Steady in Minneapolis, below.

A few songs into his bravura one-man baroque-pop set, the skies filled with thunder and lightning as rain began to drench Pallett, who continued shredding his bow fiercely across his violin.

As stagehands covered equipment with plastic, and organizers frantically tried to cut him off, Pallett kept playing the appropriately dramatic 'Lewis Takes His Shirt Off.' "One more minute," he yelled, as sheets of water hit him full force.

The stunned (and soaked) crowd broke into wild cheers as one minute turned into two and Pallett sped toward the song's big finish like a man possessed -- until the stage crew finally pulled the plug. Still, his heroics had already created Hillside's most memorable moment. [Spinner]

Video from that moment below.

This November he (Owen Pallett) heads out on tour to open up for The Mountain Goats (John Darnielle), who will be playing as a full band (though there is a much shorter string of Darnielle solo dates too). The trip ends with a pair of NYC gigs on December 1st and 2nd, when they respectively visit Webster Hall and the Bell House. Tickets for Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon; general sale starts Friday, August 7th at noon. Bell House tickets are on sale today at noon.

The occasion for this tour is a new record from The Mountain Goats, enigmatically titled The Life of the World to Come, which comes out October 6th on 4AD. All song titles on the new album are Bible verses. John says,

The album was recorded between April and June: first at Electrical Audio with Brandon Eggleston; then at Sonic Ranch with John Congleton; and finally at Baucom Road with Scott Solter. Scott also mixed the entire album at Baucom Road. The band is still Jon Wurster, Peter Hughes, and me; Owen Pallett did string arrangements & played on the Electrical session.

I guess the obvious question is going to be: "John, have you had some sort of religious awakening?" and while I guess lots of people might want to be coy about answering that, that's never really been my style, so: no. It's not like that. It's not some heavy-narrative-distance deal either, though, and it's not a screed. It's twelve new songs: twelve hard lessons the Bible taught me, kind of. More than that I'd want to wait to say until some people have heard it, which won't be long.

One track "Genesis 3:23" is posted above. The verse in question there, "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken," may aid in your listening. Album art & tracklist, with tour dates, the FF Hillside video, and FF@P4K pics, below...

John Vanderslice: Yes, we're doing a "comedian's record," and and that will be out by the time we go on tour in March.

KEXP: What does that mean? Will it be spoken word?

JV: Oh! No! sorry. (laughs) That's the band name [The Comedians]. It would be funny if it were an actual comedian's record, though it might be kind of disappointing, but John is very funny.

That interview was posted in early February, and I don't think John and John actually got the album out before the tour, but they have been performing songs from it at shows - including at the one they played on March 27th at the Society for Ethical Culture in NYC (part of the Wordless Music series). Check out the setlist below.

All of the dates and details of that tour haven't been announced yet, but there will be a June 12th Brooklyn show at Music Hall of Williamsburg which will also be the BrooklynVegan showcase at the NorthSide Festival (more artists to be announced soon). $15 general admission tickets will go on sale this Friday at noon, and a certain amount of tickets will be reserved for Northside badge holders (details on that to also be announced soon).

"We are going to light out for the Territories in a van with two acoustic guitars, some notebooks, our soundman Brandon and a pouch full of charms against ill omen. We are going to get elemental. We are going to stomp our feet and hammer at the strings until we get what we want from them. We, a couple of guys named John, are going to tour, is what we're going to do. We're going to stand alone onstage and play our guitars and sing old songs & new, and then we'll probably play together. We are going to sit side by side with our acoustic guitars like two out of the five guys on the Five Man Acoustical Jam album, only with fewer Tesla songs. Because the whole point of playing an acoustic guitar is not to unplug. It's to get raw and draw blood."
[John Darnielle aka The Mountain Goats]

The Primitive tour kicks off on March 18th in Asheville, NC, and the NYC show will take place at the Society For Ethical Culture on March 27th. It's part of the Wordless Music Series. Tickets are on sale. John and John each also have some other interesting shows lined up between now and then...

Ten years ago John Vanderslice founded the Tiny Telephone recording studio in San Francisco, CA. To celebrate the occasion, John will be performing a show at the Great American Music Hall on January 30 with The Magik*Magik Orchestra in a 30-piece configuration. "Together they will pull favorite tunes from his catalog, and introduce new songs from a forthcoming album currently being recorded at Tiny Telephone." Special guest DJ Aesop Rock will spin records before and after the performance. All proceeds from the event will benefit Magik*Magik, the house Orchestra of Tiny Telephone.

The Mountain Goats are keeping busy before March comes too. First of all there's Ships & Dip V...

Barenaked Ladies and Sixthman are up to some more shenanigans! It's the real McCoy - Introducing Ships and Dip V, sailing through the Caribbean February 1-6, 2009. We're bringing you the goods again, in what's sure to be the craziest, zaniest time at sea!

Join Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea, The New Odds, Boothby Graffoe, The Weakerthans, and more bands to be announced throughout the year, as we set sail on the Norwegian Jewel for 5 days of revelry, recreation and boatloads of musical fun! With NCL's Freestyle Cruising, you won't get the bum's rush for doing exactly what you want! You can get dolled up, or keep it casual. With 12 restaurants and 11 bars and lounges to choose from, a luxurious spa, a full service casino, and plenty of other features, there won't be any trouble making your cruise experience the cat's pajamas. We set sail from Miami to NCL's private island of Great Stirrup Cay and Cozumel, Mexico- two great places to get some sun on those gams!

When you're not jiving to the amazing artists, relaxing by the pool or dining in one of the many hot spots on board, you can be sure to find tons of other activities to keep you on your toes!

Also on the boat will be Sarah McLachlan, Luke Doucet, Sloan, AND The Mountain Goats. Then on February 24th & 25th, The Mountain Goats have two shows scheduled in San Francisco, one of which is part of Noise Pop. All dates below...

I have two pairs of tickets to tonight's benefit show at the Masonic Temple. They go to the first and tenth people that email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: benefit). Include your first and last name (thanks to the Musebox for the contest).

The new Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride, is garnering critical accolades (including an 8.0 in Pitchfork today), all of them deserved. Not only is John Darnielle's songwriting stronger with every new release, but he seems more comfortable with the production and collaborating musicians (including St. Vincent's Annie Clark here). Look for an interview with Darnielle on Largehearted Boy tomorrow.

Tickets go on sale Thursday for a Mountain Goats & Deer Tick show at NYU's Kimmel Center on November 29th. I'm not totally sure whether this is an official NYU concert or what - all I know is that tix will be available on Ticketweb. Deer Tick is also playing Union Pool in Brooklyn on December 7th. All tour dates below....

How were The Mountain Goats & Bowerbirds at Bowery Ballroom last night? Tonight (Oct 02) they play Studio B in Brooklyn, and that ends their current tour. New tour dates starting on October 30th, below...

On Sunday (June 17, 2007) I was one of the 200 lucky enough to attend The Mountain Goats benefit concert for Farm Sanctuary entitled Zoop!. Farm Sanctuary is an amazing non-profit organization that has been rescuing farm animals since 1986. For more information about this amazing organization you can visit their website.

Zoop! was a benefit show that John Darnielle planned a few months ago, and after a lot of hard work the pay off was huge. People from as far as Illinois to Ireland made the trip to Watkins Glen, NY. The festivities began Saturday night as Perry Wright from The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers and Peter Hughes of The Mountain Goats kicked things off. This was followed by a solo set from John Darnielle.

On Sunday night, John Darnielle played an all request set that was organized via The Mountain Goats message board. The 22 song set consisted of mostly B-sides and rarities, but somehow everyone in the crowd still seemed to know the words. For a couple of the songs John had to use lyrics sheets as a reference along with a little help from the crowd. The regular set ended with John's crowd pleasing sing-along of Ace of Bass' song "The Sign" (probably for the last time ever due to John's hatred of playing the cover), "If You See Light" from Get Lonely, and finally the "Cobscook Bay". He then came out for two encores because the crowd would just not let down, and finally the set ended.

The real beauty of the whole event was that everyone was so respectful to the farm, and the entire farm staff was so welcoming. I was lucky enough to conduct an interview with John about the event for my college radio station 88.9 FM WNYO. The full text from the interview will be up soon on the station website within the next few days. In the interview he talks about how he became involved with Farm Sanctuary, the typical Mountain Goats fan, and shares some information about the upcoming album.

Below are set lists from both shows courtesy of The Mountain Goatsmessage board:

David Weinberg was one of those who waited in line this afternoon (May 12, 2007) to get a ticket to see Wilcoat Warsaw in Brooklyn. As you can see from the above voucher, they're taking the no-scalping thing very seriously.

Cocorosie has always been a polarizing force - not as love-them-or-hate-them as their friends Antony, Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart, but definitely a band that generates a lot of disdain among music fans. This is especially true in the U.S. In Europe, especially France, they seem to more often adore Cocorosie. When I saw Cocorosie open for Antony in French-speaking Montreal, the crowd even gave the Cocorosie Cassady sisters an amazing reception - something I wasn't used to as a New Yorker. U.S. music fans are more likely to use words 'art school' and 'pretentious' when describing Cocorosie. The Cassady sisters don't help the matter by aligning themselves with the controversial Williamsburg, Brooklyn "Pumpsta" scene.

I'm personally somewhere in the middle. I kind of have/had a fetish for all things Antony-Devendra-Cocorosie-Newsom - the extremity of it has worn off a little, but I still support most of Cocorosie's endeavors - I play their music on my Sirius radio show, regularly post their tour dates, and am quick to explore anything else they have going on like their record label & storeVoodoo-EROS, and their side projectMetallic Falcons. I enjoy their music, but don't often find myself listening to their albums. I am not offended by their live shows, but sometimes do wonder how authentic they are. Overall I am more FOR them than against them. Sometimes that makes me feel alone - especially among those closest to me. ha.

Pitchfork was sort of on Cocorosie's side when Sam Ubl gave their 2004 Touch & Go debut La Maison de Mon Revea 6.9. Sam was much less kind in 2005 when the score for Noah's Arkcame in at a 3.4, and now - for their brand new album The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn - an album Drowned in Sound called "a sure contender for album of the year" - Cocorosie received a lowly 2.3.

...Too bad it seems as if the more self-impressed CocoRosie sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady get about transcending genres, the less patience they have for mere mortal concerns like, um, songs. True, Ghosthorse and Stillborn begins with CocoRosie at their most radio-ready, on single "Rainbowarriors" (MP3 above), where Bianca speak-sings impishly about finding "the rainbow trail that's deep inside ya" over beatbox schmaltz. It's something like Vitamin C's 1999 Top 40 hit "Graduation (Friends Forever)", only with neighing horses, buzzing synths, and Sierra's operatic soprano instead of Pachelbel-derived orchestral Radio Disney pomp/circumstance....

On the other hand, Joanna, Devendra, and Antony and his Johnsons have all received the "Best New Music" title at least once. I'm not implying there's anything more to this than Pitchfork's honest assessment of all albums involved (feel free to in the comments though). I'm really just setting the background for what came next....

I have a musical crush on Antony, but, factual errors aside, I don't believe any musician should ever take on a critic. Where's it going to get you? You'll always look bad except to your most die-hard fans.

I'm also not sure if it is ethical to publish (theoretically) private letters on a blog. I'm not sure if it's even allowed - especially if the letters were written to and/or on behalf of your employer (is it OK Gawker?).

I am writing in regards to the very unpleasant review of Cocorosie's new album that was printed in yesterday's Pitchfork.

I was bitterly disappointed when I read it. It was filled with inaccuracies. For instance, I do not even appear on the record, and yet Hogan snidely referred to a guest appearance he somehow imagined I had made.

But It is an album I would have been proud to be a part of. Please assign writers who are open and receptive to understanding the work of America's more challenging young artists, instead of printing reviews that try to cover up their lack of comprehension with bad wit and cynical one-upmanship. We desperately need artists who will take risks and put their hearts forward in this cultural climate, now more than ever. Why would you print a review that only seeks to oppress performers who are among those taking some of the biggest and most generous risks?

Please assign writers with some sense of vision to review Cocorosies work in the future. Marc Hogan, a financial analyst (!!), is completely in the dark about Cocorosie; he cannot even fathom their intent or the usefulness, the generosity, and the deep originality of their work. I remember the Pitchfork review of their last album in which the writer even admitted that he was panning the album simply because he didnt understand it. Cocorosie are a brave pair of visionary young Americans who are pushing the dialogue forward. They are treasured by their peers, many of whom are artists that you have written about with respect, and by audiences around the world. We all read Pitchfork, and rely on it as an important outlet of information for independent artists. Please rise to the challenge and represent Cocorosie fairly, instead of publishing checklists of incomprehension that are tinged with misogynist resentment.

I did send an email that was a little hot under the collar to Marc Hogan, which should be laughed at and disregarded. I send this now to you now in all earnestness.

BUT WAIT? What does this post have to do with the wombat-lovingMountain Goats (aka John Darnielle)?

WELL, as we already knew, John - owner of "one of the best music blogs on the interblock" according to Pitchfork - LOVES Cocorosie. He loved them in 2006. He loves them in 2007 - John recently blogged:

....Still. Objections constitute dialogue; Lou Reed used to know this & it's why he owned the seventies. The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is my favorite album of the year so far. At its lyrical best, it inhabits its own country, unashamed of real poetry and willing to put in the hard work necessary to inhabit a space unlike anybody else's.

A long time in the making, the Sound Fix Cafe is finally set to reopen its doors on Friday night, May 11, and we're going to kick things off with a super bang when John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats comes to town for a special, one-night in-store performance! The new cafe will be practically unrecognizable from the old one, with a new bar, stage and sound system as well as new floors, lighting and furniture. Nearly three years ago to the day, Darnielle played at the opening of the Sound Fix record shop; now he will be on hand to usher in this exciting new phase of the Williamsburg cafe/bar/record store.

What's crazy about SXSW is that as amazing as that show seems, when the day comes you still have to weigh it against like 100 other options.

In other Beirut news, Zach is currently holed up in New Mexico, resting, and working on a new album. The rest of the world is listening to his awesome EP that just came out called "Lon Gisland" (get it? Long Island):